


Midnight Cry

by The_Pinkest_Dragon



Category: Ed Edd n Eddy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-05-08 19:00:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14700264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Pinkest_Dragon/pseuds/The_Pinkest_Dragon
Summary: Eddy and Ed hear someone crying outside in the night, and find out a little more about their close friend's home life.





	Midnight Cry

“Ed, I swear, you lick me one more time and I’m tossing ya out the window.”

The taller boy merely giggled in his usual, endearing way, and wrapped his arms around Eddy in a loose, affectionate embrace, his head resting on top of Eddy’s. “Aww, you know you like it, you little dickens.”

“Like it?! Ed, I like your slobber on me like a hernia, now get off,” Eddy growls, lifting a foot and pushing Ed back with a heel to his chest.

Ed flopped back onto his butt on Eddy’s carpet, and, undisturbed, merely blinked and crawled right under the bed. With a roll of his eyes, Eddy returned to looking at himself in the mirror, yanking at his hair with a comb. After a bit with only the sounds of Ed rummaging under the bed, from outside in the dark cul-de-sac there was the unmistakable sound of glass shattering, then a slamming door, making Eddy stop and look at the window. “What was that?”

“Dunno, Eddy.” Ed poked his head out from under the bed, looking an awful lot like a turtle with a round, purple shell. “I didn’t do it.”

Hopping down from his chair, Eddy went to the window and peeked out, squinting and cupping his hand around his eyes to see out into the dark street, lit only by the lamps. “See anything?”

There was a pause, as Ed wiggled out from his hiding spot, then peeked out the window alongside his best friend. “Was it zombies, Eddy?”

“I don’t think so, Ed. Shuttup, lemme hear.” The two fell silent, Eddy narrowing his eyes as he pressed his ear to the windowpane. After a long time of silence, there’s only one sound… the hiccups and unmistakable sobs of someone crying.

The two boys looked at each other, Ed chewing on his lip. “Do you know who that sounds like, Eddy?”

“Yeah. Come on.” Eddy growled, throwing open the door and zipping open his jacket as he stepped out. Ed followed close behind, closing the door with two fingers on the doorknob and a delicate touch.

As the two boys rounded the corner onto the sidewalk, their fears were realized. Across the street, under the very dim light the lamp on their side of the street cast, sat their own Double Dee, his knobby knees drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them, his head buried in his elbows. The sounds of the fighting were clearly coming from the house behind him, the lights of the ground floor lit with a harsh light to match the shouting voices from inside.

Right away, Ed gasped and dashed over to his friend, arms flailing, and sat next to him. Eddy came over a bit more casually, sitting on his other side with his hands in his pockets. Ed, naturally, was the first to speak, patting Edd on top of his head. “There there, my friend. What is the matter?”

Only sniffles and the sound of faint, muffled sobs come from Edd.

“You can talk to Ed! What is wrong, my sniffly friend?” Ed asked again, still gently patting him on top of the head.

Eddy sighed after a minute, looking at Ed. “Lay off,” he mumbled in an uncharacteristically soft tone. “Give the guy a second.” Shifting his gaze to Edd, he nudged him very gently with one shoulder. “You’re good, Sockhead. We’ll hang out til you tell us what’s up, and then we’ll fix it. Got it?” The sound of fighting was all too familiar to Eddy, having grown up in it and around it.

Edd nodded after a moment, mumbling into his arms. “Th-Thank you, gentlemen.”

The three of them sat there just like that on the edge of the sidewalk for a while, Edd flinching visibly every time there was a crash or a noise from inside, and Ed continuing to pat his friend on the top of the head.

Finally, the sounds of the conflict seemed to end abruptly, with the slamming of the front door, and all three boys cast their eyes to the ground as they hear an adult leave the house, stumble to the car, turn it on, and peel out and away, driving right past them but not paying them any mind.

It’s this that finally makes Edd lift his head, looking between the boys with red-rimmed eyes and tears on his cheeks. He swallows hard, and then speaks softly. “Do you two know what…alcohol does to your system?”

Eddy frowned, looking confused. “What the heck are you talking about?”

“That, my friends, is what alcohol does.” He pointed at his house with a trembling finger. “Never mind the facts presented that it kills brain cells and impairs function, but it also makes you confrontational and unable to handle simple tasks.” He swallowed hard, the words sticking in his throat. “It also makes it incredibly difficult to maintain the ruse of a cohesive family unit.”

There was silence between the three then, Ed simply staring at Double-Dee with his hand pressed to his back in support and his eyes wide and emotional. Eddy, however, stared at the sidewalk, seeming to roll the thoughts over in his mind.

“…That why they’re always gone, and always leaving you those dumb notes?”

Sighing, Edd dropped his head into his hands, nodding and squeaking out a soft “Yes, Eddy.”

After another small moment of thought, Eddy stands up and dusts off his pants, holding his hand out. “C’mon. Get up. Go pack your stuff, you’re coming to bunk with me tonight.”

Edd slowly lifted his head and looked up at Eddy, tears still streaming down his cheeks.

Giving him one of his usual cheesy grins, Eddy wiggled his hand. “You heard me. Come on. We’ll go in with ya, swing over to Ed’s to grab his junk, then we’ll sleep over. In the morning I’m makin’ you all omelets. I have eggs this time.”

With a slow, grateful smile, Edd finally grasped Eddy’s hand and pulled himself to his feet as Ed jumped to his own, flailing his arms and skipping in a little circle. “Yaaaaay, sleepover time! Sleepover time, sleepover time!”

As the three boys made their way up the steps to Edd’s house, Double-Dee looked at Eddy with a softness in his eyes, sniffling and looking a little braver. “…Thank you, Eddy.”

Shrugging his shoulder, Eddy waved him off right away. “Yeah, yeah, don’t mention it, Sockhead. I know how it is.”

A pause.

“…I know how it is.”

With a small nod, Edd forced a small smile…that quickly turned into a real one as Ed flopped onto him and drew him into a big hug, giggling. Normally, this would cause Edd to gag and choke, but honestly…on a night like this…feeling the comforting pressure of Ed and hearing Eddy’s words of acknowledgement and understanding, and both of them being there for him in his time of need…this was all he truly needed.

**Author's Note:**

> This was based on a self-insert fanfic I wrote when I was in middle school. I even used some of the same dialogue. It helped me a lot then, and nobody ever, ever read it until now. I hope you guys like it.


End file.
